First published 1991
Mary Louise Dallon stares out the window of her parents' cramped farmhouse in provincial Ireland, 1955. The walls press closer each day, and she knows she must escape before she withers away completely. When opportunity arrives in the form of a man from the nearby small town, she grasps it without hesitation. Her inexperience blinds her to the meager nature of what he offers. She sees only freedom from the suffocating rooms where she grew up. The wedding comes quickly, born more from desperation than love. But her new life brings none of the liberation she imagined. Instead of the spacious future she dreamed of, Mary Louise finds herself trapped in a different kind of confinement. The marriage that promised salvation delivers only emptiness and isolation. She discovers that running toward something can be as dangerous as running away.
Genres: 20th-century, contemporary, adult-fiction, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, trapped
Setting: Ireland, Provincial Ireland
Period: 1955
224 pages · Hardcover · Viking